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As part of career transition, many consultants, coaches, and gurus extol the virtue of networking. Their advice centers on the value of weak ties (as made famous by Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Tipping Point) and that the more people you know the better. These experts invariably recommend that you participate in networking events and join professional organizations.
While I do not disagree with what they recommend, I do have issues with the surface-level recommendations that they make.
What they fail to understand about the concept of leveraging weak ties, is that the essence of the power of weak ties is about having access to information that your usual circle of friends and acquaintances might not have. Implicit in this, is a relationship between you and the weak ties.
Failing to understand this essence is where people go wrong. They start attending scores of networking events and at these events, focus exclusively on collecting (and giving out) name cards. Little, or no effort, is made to get to know the other person.
If you pause to think about it, if you knew of a business or job opportunity, would you recommend someone you don’t know well? Bear in mind that your reputation is at stake with every recommendation you make. Leveraging the power of weak ties is therefore not just about having…
